Introduction
< Add an intro> Infrastructure planning
From the beginning, choice of technology has been dictated by the requirements of the LEEP program. It must work on multiple platforms, be reliable and robust, and create realistic bandwidth demands for students connecting from home (Accreditation Report). There is no formal technology implementation plan. The software, hardware and Internet requirements for LEEP are low, and hence GSLIS's computer labs and UIUC computers have been able to successfully support the online program and have proven to be sufficient to meet their requirements (Written interview with Matt Beth).
GSLIS has a dedicated Instructional Technology and Design team (ITD). Their mission is to "help bridge the gap between the learner and technology in the classroom setting". ITD's philosophy is that the technology should be simple and stable so students can focus on their studies. In particular, having in-house instructional technology and information technology staff enables GSLIS to emphasize course-integrated technology instruction. Each course has its own server space where the syllabus is posted and course-specific bulletin boards are set up. Each student has web space where completed assignments can be posted. Courses needing more sophisticated hardware and software support have dedicated classroom servers maintained by GSLIS IT staff.(Accreditation Report II.3.7)
The GSLIS building has a wired network accessible to faculty, staff, and researchers using GSLIS-provided computers and UIUCnet Wireless Access accessible through QuickConnect or Virtual Private Networking (VPN). A wireless network is also being installed in parts of the building to enable more ubiquitous access to computing resources. All students and instructors have H: drives for file storage and I: drives for web publishing on GSLIS servers. GSLIS shows its strong support of its graduates by maintaining their file storage for two years after graduation. This also indicates a robust file server system.
An IT Advisory Committee has been set up to gather inputs from GSLIS and LEEP students and faculty, so they can examine improvements and enhancements to both the technology infrastructure on campus, and the online LEEP virtual classroom environment (Accreditation report).
Infrastructure Stability
The GSLIS network system, controlled by CITES, is highly reliable and GSLIS Moodle has an up-time rate of 99.9%. These computers are on a regular update schedule for hardware and software. This ensures technology stability. The systems are constantly monitored and in the case of an emergency, the application developers immediately get e-mails. The systems staff also maintain a 24/7 emergency phone monitored on a rotating basis, so they can be contacted directly by users if there's a problem. All their server data is backed up in two locations: on-site and off-site. (Written interview with Matt Beth) On-campus GSLIS supports a large number of software licenses in three categories: fully-supported, partially supported and installed at cost.
Digital Literacy & student personal computer requirements
Before entering the master's program, LEEP students are expected to have elementary computer literacy skills, e-mail and bulletin board skills, and information retrieval skills. The LEEP website states the students' hardware requirements in the most general terms. They must have access at work or at home to "the necessary technology" described as either Unix, Linux, Windows, or Macintosh personal computers, and network connectivity. Matt Beth emphasizes that the required connectivity for LEEP students is low, only what's necessary to run the Elluminate virtual classroom. During the master's program they must acquire the following technology skills: html/xml authoring, Linux/Unix commands to remotely access programs on UI servers, database creation and information literacy in LIS, and GSLIS-supported software covers these areas. Student Orientation, Training and Support
According to the GSLIS 2004 Accreditation report, many students select the LEEP option to earn a master's degree "not because they enjoy working with technology, but because it is the key to gaining access to the degree that they want to advance in their careers." Thus, a large part of the work of GSLIS' ITD department is focused on easing student anxiety with technology in order to prepare them to successfully participate in the program. They accomplish this through robust orientation, training and support. A special web page for new students provides a clear getting started checklist to help students gain access to program applications and resources. During boot camp, students attend workshops to introduce them to the technology they will need to participate in the program. Students participate in a practice Elluminate session to resolve technology issues prior to their first online synchronous class. During class, technical support is available through text chat and a special breakout room. Students may also call a 1-800 number for offline support.
The ITD department provide ongoing training in the form of workshops and one-on-one tutorials. Written tutorials on such subjects as using Moodle and Elluminate, collaborating in online groups, creating webpages and using research tools provide students with just-in-time resources to help navigate the online learning environment. GSLIS also directs students to additional on campus resources (CITES, Graduate School, Library). Students access these resouces through prominent links on their Moodle homepage.
Besides 1-800 telephone access, IT staff are also available during daily online off hours in an Elluminate session.
Shareable and Reusable Objects
Understanding the importance of creating learning objects and identifying and implementing reusable learning material in any form is an efficient way of designing e-learning programs. While LEEP programs do not use many SCORM objects, there is a lot of reuse of content through Moodle. Instructors have high level access to all other course pages and they can identify common content and request for reuse. Reusable components typically include Moodle activities or web resources, audio or video files, and Elluminate sessions that have been published.
There have been many efforts in the past to create a common repository that instructors can post to and access, however, these efforts have not had much success. In 2005, seven course clusters were established to aid and guide program planning. Creation of these course clusters helps in sharing curriculum and course development information. Such courses have common spaces in Moodle to share and collaborate course content.
Policy
The university web store (http://webstore.illinois.edu/home/) offers both free and discounted software to all students. In addition GSLIS is also part of a MSDNAA arrangement with Microsoft. This entitles GSLIS students to access a whole suite of Microsoft software products for academic and personal (non-commercial) use. GSLIS also has site licenses for some course specific tools (oXygen, multites etc.) and some special arrangements with online databases for students and faculty. Students can access the web store directly through links on their Moodle homepage and through the GSLIS ITD web page.
Hardware and Software
IT staff provide equipment and set-ups for audio-visual needs on-campus and broadcast LEEP live sessions. The staff work with each faculty member preparing a course to identify the technology available to support the instructor’s goals for a course. (ala special 7)
For the first 10 years of the program, LEEP was supported by an internally developed and maintained LMS. In 2007, the school switched to Moodle, an open-source course management software, in order to meet the changing needs and expectations of students. Students expressed interest in increased functionality such as wysiwyg editor/forums, assignment drop box and grading. The School selected Moodle partly because of its open source nature, which made it both cost effective and customizable. An evaluation process that included user testing identified Moodle as the fit for GSLIS among both open source and commercial products.
Moodle is not tied in to University of Illinois' enterprise software (Banner). GSLIS loads course registration information into Moodle from a database feed. ITD creates Moodle spaces for all GSLIS courses, as it supports both online and on campus courses. Additional spaces can be created for student and faculty projects.
For live synchronous sessions, LEEP uses Elluminate, web conferencing software that utilizes VOIP, text chat, video, application sharing and more. Confluence is another open source commercial wiki package supported by GSLIS. Spaces can be created both for individuals and working groups.
Conclusion
The technology support personnel continue to introduce enhancements to the LEEP environment as faculty and students request more capabilities, but the basic infrastructure has remained stable (Accreditation Report).
< Add an intro>
Infrastructure planning
From the beginning, choice of technology has been dictated by the requirements of the LEEP program. It must work on multiple platforms, be reliable and robust, and create realistic bandwidth demands for students connecting from home (Accreditation Report). There is no formal technology implementation plan. The software, hardware and Internet requirements for LEEP are low, and hence GSLIS's computer labs and UIUC computers have been able to successfully support the online program and have proven to be sufficient to meet their requirements (Written interview with Matt Beth).
GSLIS has a dedicated Instructional Technology and Design team (ITD). Their mission is to "help bridge the gap between the learner and technology in the classroom setting". ITD's philosophy is that the technology should be simple and stable so students can focus on their studies. In particular, having in-house instructional technology and information technology staff enables GSLIS to emphasize course-integrated technology instruction. Each course has its own server space where the syllabus is posted and course-specific bulletin boards are set up. Each student has web space where completed assignments can be posted. Courses needing more sophisticated hardware and software support have dedicated classroom servers maintained by GSLIS IT staff.(Accreditation Report II.3.7)
The GSLIS building has a wired network accessible to faculty, staff, and researchers using GSLIS-provided computers and UIUCnet Wireless Access accessible through QuickConnect or Virtual Private Networking (VPN). A wireless network is also being installed in parts of the building to enable more ubiquitous access to computing resources. All students and instructors have H: drives for file storage and I: drives for web publishing on GSLIS servers. GSLIS shows its strong support of its graduates by maintaining their file storage for two years after graduation. This also indicates a robust file server system.
An IT Advisory Committee has been set up to gather inputs from GSLIS and LEEP students and faculty, so they can examine improvements and enhancements to both the technology infrastructure on campus, and the online LEEP virtual classroom environment (Accreditation report).
Infrastructure Stability
The GSLIS network system, controlled by CITES, is highly reliable and GSLIS Moodle has an up-time rate of 99.9%. These computers are on a regular update schedule for hardware and software. This ensures technology stability. The systems are constantly monitored and in the case of an emergency, the application developers immediately get e-mails. The systems staff also maintain a 24/7 emergency phone monitored on a rotating basis, so they can be contacted directly by users if there's a problem. All their server data is backed up in two locations: on-site and off-site. (Written interview with Matt Beth) On-campus GSLIS supports a large number of software licenses in three categories: fully-supported, partially supported and installed at cost.
Digital Literacy & student personal computer requirements
Before entering the master's program, LEEP students are expected to have elementary computer literacy skills, e-mail and bulletin board skills, and information retrieval skills. The LEEP website states the students' hardware requirements in the most general terms. They must have access at work or at home to "the necessary technology" described as either Unix, Linux, Windows, or Macintosh personal computers, and network connectivity. Matt Beth emphasizes that the required connectivity for LEEP students is low, only what's necessary to run the Elluminate virtual classroom. During the master's program they must acquire the following technology skills: html/xml authoring, Linux/Unix commands to remotely access programs on UI servers, database creation and information literacy in LIS, and GSLIS-supported software covers these areas.
Student Orientation, Training and Support
According to the GSLIS 2004 Accreditation report, many students select the LEEP option to earn a master's degree "not because they enjoy working with technology, but because it is the key to gaining access to the degree that they want to advance in their careers." Thus, a large part of the work of GSLIS' ITD department is focused on easing student anxiety with technology in order to prepare them to successfully participate in the program. They accomplish this through robust orientation, training and support. A special web page for new students provides a clear getting started checklist to help students gain access to program applications and resources. During boot camp, students attend workshops to introduce them to the technology they will need to participate in the program. Students participate in a practice Elluminate session to resolve technology issues prior to their first online synchronous class. During class, technical support is available through text chat and a special breakout room. Students may also call a 1-800 number for offline support.
The ITD department provide ongoing training in the form of workshops and one-on-one tutorials. Written tutorials on such subjects as using Moodle and Elluminate, collaborating in online groups, creating webpages and using research tools provide students with just-in-time resources to help navigate the online learning environment. GSLIS also directs students to additional on campus resources (CITES, Graduate School, Library). Students access these resouces through prominent links on their Moodle homepage.
Besides 1-800 telephone access, IT staff are also available during daily online off hours in an Elluminate session.
Shareable and Reusable Objects
Understanding the importance of creating learning objects and identifying and implementing reusable learning material in any form is an efficient way of designing e-learning programs. While LEEP programs do not use many SCORM objects, there is a lot of reuse of content through Moodle. Instructors have high level access to all other course pages and they can identify common content and request for reuse. Reusable components typically include Moodle activities or web resources, audio or video files, and Elluminate sessions that have been published.
There have been many efforts in the past to create a common repository that instructors can post to and access, however, these efforts have not had much success. In 2005, seven course clusters were established to aid and guide program planning. Creation of these course clusters helps in sharing curriculum and course development information. Such courses have common spaces in Moodle to share and collaborate course content.
Policy
The university web store (http://webstore.illinois.edu/home/) offers both free and discounted software to all students. In addition GSLIS is also part of a MSDNAA arrangement with Microsoft. This entitles GSLIS students to access a whole suite of Microsoft software products for academic and personal (non-commercial) use. GSLIS also has site licenses for some course specific tools (oXygen, multites etc.) and some special arrangements with online databases for students and faculty.
Students can access the web store directly through links on their Moodle homepage and through the GSLIS ITD web page.
Hardware and Software
IT staff provide equipment and set-ups for audio-visual needs on-campus and broadcast LEEP live sessions. The staff work with each faculty member preparing a course to identify the technology available to support the instructor’s goals for a course. (ala special 7)
For the first 10 years of the program, LEEP was supported by an internally developed and maintained LMS. In 2007, the school switched to Moodle, an open-source course management software, in order to meet the changing needs and expectations of students. Students expressed interest in increased functionality such as wysiwyg editor/forums, assignment drop box and grading. The School selected Moodle partly because of its open source nature, which made it both cost effective and customizable. An evaluation process that included user testing identified Moodle as the fit for GSLIS among both open source and commercial products.
Moodle is not tied in to University of Illinois' enterprise software (Banner). GSLIS loads course registration information into Moodle from a database feed. ITD creates Moodle spaces for all GSLIS courses, as it supports both online and on campus courses. Additional spaces can be created for student and faculty projects.
For live synchronous sessions, LEEP uses Elluminate, web conferencing software that utilizes VOIP, text chat, video, application sharing and more. Confluence is another open source commercial wiki package supported by GSLIS. Spaces can be created both for individuals and working groups.
Conclusion
The technology support personnel continue to introduce enhancements to the LEEP environment as faculty and students request more capabilities, but the basic infrastructure has remained stable (Accreditation Report).
Resources
Infrastructure planning
ITD office - mission and philosophy - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/academics/itd
GSLIS Accreditation Standard VI.5 - http://accreditation.lis.illinois.edu/standard6.htm
Q&As with Matt Beth -
LEEP virtual environment - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/academics/itd/tech
software licenses - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/helpdesk/software
GSLIS/LEEP students' tech skills prerequisites - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/admissions/requirements/ms/tech
LEEP students hardware requirements - http://www.lis.illinohttp://cte.illinois.edu/outcomes/pdfs/unitassess/gsls08.pdfis.edu/academics/leep#technology
information about wired and wireless networks - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/helpdesk/network
H: and I: drives on servers - http://www.lis.illinois.edu/helpdesk/filestorage
Creation of course clusters - GSLIS Unit plan http://cte.illinois.edu/outcomes/pdfs/unitassess/gsls08.pdf